Barks

This painting of the bark Abbie Carver is in a private collection and was done c. 1875 by Maine artist William P. Stubbs.

The Bark Henrietta was built in 1847. Captain William McGilvery of Searsport sailed her to Ireland during the Irish potato famine, bringing a cargo of food. There is also a ship Henrietta, built in Bucksville, South Carolina, in 1875 by a crew of Searsport shipbuilders.

The Bark Trovatore was sunk by a waterspout in the Adriatic Sea in 1869. Travatore is also seen spelled  Trovotore or Trovatora.

The bark Penobscot, 133 tons, was built in Bucksport, Maine, in 1878, for Captain Oscar G. Eaton of Searsport. She burned at Buenos Aires in 1915.

The Bark Willard Mudgett was built in 1874 in Stockton Springs, Maine. She sank in 1904 while under the command of Captain Frederick Blanchard. Captain Blanchard's father, Captain William H. Blanchard, was aboard. There were no survivors. This is a copy photograph.

Topsey was the Montgomery's' dog, who had her own dog house on deck. Pets were very common at sea. The photograph was taken by the captain's daughter aboard the bark Carrie Winslow.

Ships, Barks, and Barkentines had 3 or 4 masts. Brigs and Brigantines had two. Sometimes schooners might have square topsails set on the foremast. But unlike these vessels, such a schooner would have a gaff foresail.

The diagram is from the Nova Scotia Museum Info poster, Sailing Ship Rigs.

Ship's bell with clapper and lanyard, from the vessel Evelyn. Bell is 11" high and 11" in diameter. While there were dozens of vessels named Evelyn, this bell came from a Searsport family and may well have been aboard a Searsport built bark, Evelyn, built in 1851.

Bells were used aboard ship to mark every half hour, with eight bells every four hours marking the change in watches.

The crew is lined up to pull together to raise the sail. They might be singing a halyard shanty. The photograph was taken by the captain's daughter aboard the bark Carrie Winslow.

In changing sails, the new sail has to be hoisted up the mast. This view shows the crew pulling together to hoist the sail, so it can be "bent on" or attached to the yard. The photograph was taken by the captain's daughter aboard the bark Carrie Winslow.